


Fathoms Below

by Prince_Ofluff



Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Little Mermaid Elements, M/M, Mythical Beings & Creatures, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-24
Updated: 2015-11-24
Packaged: 2018-05-03 03:15:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,055
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5274476
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Prince_Ofluff/pseuds/Prince_Ofluff
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dying a hero is something Chuck always imagined would be how he went out. It was better than fading into the background or becoming second best. Taking out the Kaiju, sealing the breach, he was content to let this life go and move on to whatever happened after. </p>
<p>Then the water he was floating in moved.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fathoms Below

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Synekdokee](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Synekdokee/gifts).



> This is for my friend Synekdokee! Happy Birthday!

 

 

 

While Chuck floated aimlessly in the water he was at least pacified that his death would mean something. He had died a hero hadn’t he? That was all he had ever wanted. He knew that others might have a few ideas of what he could have really wanted, and maybe they were right. Maybe he did have some issues buried deep, maybe if he had lived a couple of more years he would have gotten around to dealing with them. But for right now, he was content to die a hero and let that be the end of it. A fleeting thought struck him about his dad. They never were able to find mum’s body…maybe they would never find his. Unfair that his dad would have to live on without even one grave to visit.

That thought drove a spark through his spine and he tried to get his limbs to move. Useless. Absolutely bloody _useless_. He thought he might distantly hear the sound of his dad barking at him that he wasn’t trying hard enough. He mentally gave him a rude gesture. He was tired damnit. Tired and in pain. He deserved his rest.

The water around him moved with a sudden flow and he realized he hadn’t thought about the consequences of bleeding out in the middle of the ocean. Well…fuck getting eaten before he was dead.He thought he felt something slide against him and he clumsily tried to strike it. If he was lucky maybe he would just drown before they got their teeth into him.

The movement was caught by a hand.

 

Raleigh had never seen a human before. Sure he’d heard stories about them; he had even seen paintings sometimes. But he had never actually _seen_ one before right now. He thought he looked a bit odd with those things (legs he mentally reminded himself). It was like a tail cut in half. He looked at them for while; they seemed sturdy like roots or logs, but not very flexible. He worked his way up and the human tried to hit him! He circled back around; he could taste the blood in the water and knew that others would be coming soon. It was technically against the rules but he didn’t want to see his first human get eaten. He wanted to see more.

He huffed and thought about his brother Yancy, he wasn’t going to be happy about this that was for sure; but he’d understand. Probably. The human wasn’t moving so he assumed that he was asleep for now, or at least that’s what he thought humans looked like when they were sleeping. Dead and asleep looked the same to him.

 

When Chuck woke up he was on a beach. That wasn’t what he was expecting. It was better, but not what he expected. His armed flailed about uselessly for a moment and he felt was the hot searing sand against his skin and he clenched his teeth. Sand was better than water, it was _definitely_ better than being eaten alive. A shadow came over his face and he blinked for a few moments before he realized there was a figure blocking the sun. “Ay mate.”

Raleigh turned his head slightly to the side. The human was talking to him? He leaned down to get a closer look and the human seemed uncomfortable by his sudden closeness. He shifted away slightly and made a few chirps back.

Chuck must have hit his head harder than he realized. He groaned and tried again “Can you get some help? Or at least a bloody drink?” He tried to sit up but pretty much every bone in his body told him that wouldn’t be a good idea. He muttered a bit under his breath and saw that the stranger hadn’t moved “Oi are you blind or stupid get a load on!”

Raleigh realized the human wanted him to do something. That was unfortunate. He had gotten the human as high on the beach as he could and now only the very tip of his tail was left in the water. He waved it behind him in explanation and chirped that he couldn’t go any farther.

The chirping, that he could explain with a hard hit to the head. The tail? That was a bit more than he could do. He groaned, he was going to die here on the sand and a bloody merman was his savior. Christ. “Look I appreciate the help but I need to get to _real_ help or I’m not going to last to long.”

Raleigh turned his head to the side again and frowned. He looked back at the water where Yancy was waiting. His brother hadn’t been exactly happy about helping the human but there wasn’t much he could say in the face of Raleigh’s heartbroken expression. He looked back to the human and sadly shook his head. He had to go, the tide was leaving and soon he would be beached on the sand. Merpeople didn’t do well on the sand. He pointed in the direction of a few palm trees and smiled. He has seen other humans come and go; this one wouldn’t be alone for long.

Chuck seemed to grasp and nodded weakly in understanding “Alright. I’ll call for my own help then. But you’d best be going or you’ll end up in a tank.”

Raleigh looked at the human and smiled before he did one more thing. He had seen this in a few of the paintings too and he had always wanted to try it. He brushed his lips against the humans’ and smiled. Skin felt so strange dry, but the lips were soft and he felt warmth uncurl inside of him. It was a peculiar strange act but something he wanted to do again. Maybe even with _this_ human.

If he had had the strength he would have jerked in surprise. Instead he was helpless to take the kiss but his lips quirked in a small smile “The name’s Chuck Hansen if you ever want to look me up.”

Human words were so clumsy and he didn’t know a lot of them. But he could manage his own name “Raleigh.”

Chuck laughed and then groaned in pain as a rib shifted “Alright see you around _Ra-leigh_.”

 

 

 


End file.
